One of the finest urban festivals in the world, Montreal Jazz Festival is back for its 42nd year with one of its best lineups ever. The Downtown Montreal celebration will be showcasing over 350 global artists in programming which is mostly free and includes jazz, rock, hip-hop, and so much more. That’s right: two thirds of the programming at MTL Jazz is free to the public in an incredible effort from the Canadian government’s dedication to the arts and longtime sponsors in TD Bank and Rio Tinto.
This year’s lineup is led by The Roots, Tash Sultana, Robert Glasper, Ludovico Einaudi, Kamasi Washington, Pink Martini, Woodkid, and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. It’s a testament to how not only jazz music will be on display in Montreal’s outdoor stages and indoor venues from June 30th to July 9th.
The diversely-minded lineup also features highlights in the multi-talented Masego, New Orleans trumpet player Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, vocalist Gregory Porter, rapper Joey Badass, Brazilian muse Bebel Gilberto, the British jazz-hop of Alfa Mist, singer/violinist Sudan Archives, a nu-jazz collaboration set from Pino Palladino and Blake Mills featuring Sam Gendel and Abe Rounds, plus so much more. This is truly a bucket list-type of festival experience for any music lover that we can’t recommend enough.
Ticketed concerts at Montreal Jazz festival go on sale starting Friday, April 1 at 10 a.m. here. Check out the lineup below.